Children and young people

Helping young people to live active lives is critical to creating a happier, healthier and more prosperous London

Working with schools, colleges, policymakers, teachers and anyone supporting young people, our role is to advise, inform and create positive change to allow more children and young people to develop a resilient physical activity habit for life.

Primary PE and Sport Premium – improving the quality of sport

The Physical Education (PE) and Sport Premium provides funding for primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. It is expected that schools will see an improvement across the following 5 key indicators:

The engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – The Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that children aged 5-16 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school

The profile of PE and sport being raised across the school as a tool for whole school improvement

Increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport

Broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils

Increased participation in competitive sport

We provide guidance to schools on how to make effective use of their funding, access to resources to help them make appropriate choices and, where appropriate, access to a mentor to help them to improve areas in need of development

Each year we produce our Primary PE and Sport Premium Guide for all schools looking for support on best use of their funding.

Active Lives for children and young people

The Active Lives Survey for Children and Young People is the survey that will measure young people’s involvement in physical activity and sport across the whole country. This survey is supported by Sport England, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport.

It looks into the physical activity and sport behaviours of children and will provide a world-leading approach to gathering data on how children engage with sport and physical activity.

We manage the roll out of this survey across schools in London, engaging with a minimum of 200 schools per school term.

Healthy Pupils Capital Fund

Some of the revenue generated from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will be provided to schools in 2018-19 by way of the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund (HPCF). This fund is intended to improve children’s and young people’s physical and mental health by improving and increasing availability to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions.

To view the Department of Education guidance on the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund in full, click here.

Boroughs are encouraged to invest their HPCF allocation in evidence-based interventions which add value and have strong synergy with wider public health strategies, thus maximising upon the benefits for young Londoners.

With this in mind Public Health England, London Sport and Healthy Schools London have produced a toolkit with useful resources (including an evidence pack, guidance for teachers and a template letter to parents) to support schools with the spending of their HPCF allowance on water fountains. To access the document, click here.

Childhood Obesity

Nearly a third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese and younger generations are becoming obese at earlier ages and staying obese for longer.

Increasing levels of physical activity and reducing inactivity are both vital in addressing increasing rates of childhood obesity and London Sport is working with a range of partners including the London Obesity Leads Network, Public Health England (London) and Healthy Schools London to provide ways in which consistent messages and practical solutions can be shared across London.

Part two of the government’s plan for action to significantly reduce childhood obesity by supporting healthier choices was published in the Summer of 2018. It can be viewed here.

Thought Leadership

We speak at many events, conferences and industry round tables on the future of physical activity for children and young people in London throughout the year, as well as producing thought leadership articles to provide advice and challenges to the sector. For information on our thought leadership work visit our blog.

Get in touch

For more information on our work with primary schools, and support available to other parts of the education sector, contact Gary Palmer – Specialist Advisor, Children and Young People – gary.palmer@londonsport.org.